MAL Ep. 25
Today marked the party's second foray onto another plane. It proved to be considerably less terrifying than the first (to Arthon's Dreamscape.) 1) Tisha and Jon decided to scout through the amber portal to ascertain whether the demiplane was a deathtrap and/or whether the portal was bidrectional. They determined the answers were no and yes, respectively, and returned to fetch the rest of the party. 2) Exploring the demiplane/pocket dimension, the party discovered a magical water hole surrounded by ethereal mists. The party decided not to mess with the mists. 3) A glittering tree with a chaotic good aura was observed on a small island in the middle of the waters, which Khirg felt the urge to touch. When he touched the water, however, he was forcefully dragged under. Jon identified it as elemental water, and composed a song in the Aquan language extolling the beauty of their waters in an attempt to placate them. This summoned the water panther you encountered at the Aquan temple earlier, who informed the party that the magic of the water was too strong for them, and that there was a portal to the plane of Water on the demiplane from which the water flowed. She ferried Khirg and Zadkiel to the small island, where Khirg touched the tree and a cave behind a waterfall began glowing with a blue light. 4) The party advanced towards the waterfall, successfully bypassing a few different types of dangerous plants, a small cave with some kind of small drakes living in it, and a slippery rock over a stream. Red identified the plants as prime material in nature, though a type she had never seen before, and took samples to bring back to the Druids with her. 5) The cave behind the waterfall was blocked by a forcefield, but it seemed to be weakened by the blue glow and after some testing, the party determined that people, but not metal, stone, or other similar object, could now pass through it. Khirg and Red went through and discovered a golden bow which reminded Khirg of a legend of his people. Jon translated the fey engravings on it as reading "Bow of the Dog Soldier." 6) When Khirg picked the bow up, the party was attacked by slaads, who made a concerted but ultimately fruitless attempt to kill Khirg and/or wrestle the bow away from him. With the help of the water panther and a water elemental summoned by Red, two of the slaads were slain and the others retreated onto the ethereal plane. 7) The water panther, as long as she was there anyway, began teaching Angara the art of ignoring magical concealment, which they got to practice on the blurred slaads. 8) Returning to Hastenport, the group gave Aldrayeth a faithful report on what had happened there and left the amber portal at the Mages' Guild for her to study. The time differential of the demiplane turned out to be about 9-1; you spent 45 minutes on the demiplane, and only 5 minutes passed on Malachi.The party recognized that this could be a way to sleep and recover spells in a shorter period of time, which Tisha confirmed would work. 9) The party returned to Jon's house and sent a carrier pigeon to the Green Guard with a coded message about the golden bow for the Gnollish leader. 10) Lochrann returned with Vanima Kaimelar, upsetting Jon's brother-in-law, who isn't entirely down yet with the idea that the fey get to go wherever they want whenever they want. Jon calmed him down and spoke with Lochrann, telling her everything the party had learned about Lann Lasanta and/or Shyra (the party is not certain whether they are the same person or two different ones.) Lochrann explained the constraints upon her: that there is a fey policy of systemic non-interference on Malachi, though she still retains the right to interfere at a personal level; that she had asked the Queen about taking revenge on Chavalk for the selkie slayings and was told not to at this time, the Queen wishing to avoid fighting with the Abyss and Malachi not being her domain; that attacking another fey lord without clear provocation would result in war between their clans; and that in general, as she put it, "Fey politics are complicated. You understand, whatever transpires... we have to keep living with each other." Lochrann did, however, assert that if Lasanta/Shyra breaks the code of non-interference by joining battle against the realm of Malachi, as foreseen in Jon's vision, that is an act of treason (albeit "a small one") and could be acted upon. She gave Jon a crystalline horn to use to call her in that event, stressing that it was to be used only in the case of one of her Folk leading troops onto this plane against the rightful denizens here. She also gave Jon the fireproof bag of dragon leather that she had used to carry Vanima Kaimelar as a gift. 11) Red and Jon went to find the priest of Sesharet, Renner, who had been looking concerned and shooting glances at Red when she was there investigating High Priest Ander earlier. After discreetly managing to get Renner alone, he told them the location of a house in the marshlands outside of town where they could learn more about Ander, and that he could say no more. 12) Aler met with Naruah and updated him on everything the party has learned about the League of Snakes. Naruah mused about why Chavalk would wish to invade Peraine in the first place, and provided Aler with some information about the illithids, offering to serve as a go-between if Aler wishes to send letters to the quarantined Skenebrax. He also mentioned that the strange monsters the party encountered in Mendham Wood and Ruastin sounded like creatures Skenebrax has described from illithid mythology, and asked the party to inform him if they are able to learn anything more about the illithids or their agenda. 12) Jon went to visit Jen at the Warhouse, learning some information about local gossip in the past week. 13) Red had been invited to meet with the King of Clocks, so she brought the rest of the party with her to do that. Besides some roleplaying interactions with Red and Adriel, the King of Clocks revealed that his arms deal with Harasket was supposed to occur in two weeks. If Khirg's vision is accurate, that means the Invasion could not happen for at least two weeks. If Jon's vision is accurate, it would have to happen before the summer solstice. So that gives you a window somewhere between May 18th and Jun 20th. You already have coordinates that you intercepted from the illithids. The party also discussed the Averdale situation with the King of Clocks, who told them that the island kingdom was patrolled by archons of Tallian, who he had hoped for the Keres to defeat. Red and Adriel suggested that perhaps the gnollish Xhorhasi would agree to help overthrow the government of Averdale, since they are free mercenaries and their involvement would not embroil the King in a war nor the church of Tallian in a crusade. The King of Clocks asked Red to let him know when the allies were ready to parlay. 14) It was now about 8PM, and the party decided to travel to the address given to them by Renner and scout it out before deciding whether to enter or sleep for the night first. They successfully located the swamp house, glowing red in the darkness, and there we left off for the day. Onward!